Chesley Sullenberger Forever Linked to Twitter

It’s hard to believe that it’s been five years since US Airway pilot Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger safely landed a jet carrying 155 passengers onto the Hudson River. The emergency crash landing was needed after a flock of geese blew out both engines. It’s also hard to believe that just one single captivating event helped to launch Twitter as one the most popular sites in internet history and a multi-billion dollar publicly traded company.

Can we even imagine a world without “Twitter reaction,” or “celebrity Twitter feuds?” Five years ago, Twitter was just a run of the mill social media site. Today we know it as the be all end all of connecting with internet friends and having the amazing opportunity to communicate with everyone from Beyonce to Howard Stern.

It appears that a single tweet posted by Janis Krums helped to spark the popularity of Twitter. It was tweeted seconds after Sullenberger made his emergency crash landing. Krums took the picture on his iPhone from a commuter ferry that was racing to the airplane in an attempt to rescue the plane’s passengers and crew.

Krums then tweeted about what happened along with a picture, now known as a Twitpic, to his 170 followers. The iconic image he captured is what many of us think of when we hear the term, “The Miracle on the Hudson.” Krums’ post is considered one of the most famous tweets ever.

http://twitpic.com/135xa – There's a plane in the Hudson. I'm on the ferry going to pick up the people. Crazy.

Krums was interviewed by MSNBC just 32 minutes after posting the tweet. Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey spoke of how significant the moment was to launching his company, “Suddenly the world turned its attention because we were the source of news—and it wasn’t us, it was this person in the boat using the service, which is even more amazing.”‘

In a recent interview with CNN, Krums who is currently the CEO/co-founder of Opprtunity.com, was asked about how the Twitpic directly linked to his success in business. He responded, “It’s been a great story when I talk to people about technology. I’ve gotten some incredible opportunities to speak at such places as Columbia Journalism School and the Poynter Institute. I’m involved with technology, so I actually became an adviser to Rawporter.com. Their mission is to protect, promote and sell photos and videos from everyday people.”

Krums sent out a tweet today commemorating the fifth anniversary of the miraculous landing.